Blending of viscous liquids



June 17, 1952 R. E. HEYL ETAL 2,501,018

BLENDING OF vlscous LIQUIDS Filed May 3, 1950 R/CHARD E HEKL ETHBERT R N577 AGENT IN VEN TORS.

Patented June 17, 1952 UNITED STATS TENT OFFICE BLENDING OF VISCOUS LIQUIDS of Delaware Application May 3, 1950, Serial No. 159,832

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to the blending of viscous liquids and particularly to the continuous blending of sugar syrup with corn syrup to produce a mixture of uniform composition.

A concentrated solution of sucrose in water has been used for years in the canning of fruit products. A recent development in this industry has been the introduction of corn syrup as one component of the liquid used by the processors. However, considerable difiiculty has developed in satisfactorily mixing the sucrose solution (often referred to as liquid sugar) with the corn syrup, so much so that this difiiculty in blending has actually retarded the introduction of corn syrup into the fruit canning industry.

It is accordingly the principal object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for continuously, efficiently and thoroughly blending liquid sugar and corn syrup.

Other objects Will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, references being made to the annexed drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the blending device.

Figure 2 is a vertical end view.

Figure 3 is a detailed view, partly broken away, of the blending pipe containing a perforated spiral member.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the apparatus comprises a conventional motor I, provided with gears for driving each of two pumps. One of these pumps is a constant volume pump 2, which pumps the corn syrup to the blending device at a constant rate. The other pump 3 is of the variable volume type, for pumping the liquid sugar, and is provided with means for suitably controlling the rate at which liquid sugar is pumped to the blending tube 6. Obviously, two variable volume pumps could be used, but ordinarily there will be no advantage in this duplication. The pumps discharge by means of a Y-fitting 4 into a common pipe 5, to which is attached the blending tube 6.

This blending tube 6 contains a strip of perforated metal twisted into the form of a spiral 1, the diameter of which is equal to the internal diameter of the pipe. It is held in place in the pipe by tack welding at either end. The spiral is perforated over its entire area with holes of diameter spaced 4" apart on the center lines. It has been found that this arrangement gives the best blending of the viscous liquids.

If the syrup and liquid sugar are relatively cold, their viscosity will be proportionately higher and the difiiculty involved in thoroughly mixing them will be correspondingly greater. It was found that best results are obtained by warming these liquids somewhat, a temperature of about F. suflicing.

It will be obvious that the device may be used for the blending of other viscous liquids.

Having described the invention, what claimed as new is:

1. In an apparatus for the continuous blending of two viscous liquids wherein said liquids are pumped into a common discharge line by means of a constant volume pump and a variable volume pump respectively, the improvement comprising: a blending tube connected with said discharge line and bearing a single, perforated, sheet metal spiral member substantially throughout its length, the perforated surface of said spiral member extending from wall to wall of said blending tube.

2. In an apparatus for the continuous blending of corn syrup and liquid sugar wherein these liquids are pumped into a common discharge line by means of a constant volume pump and a variable volume pump respectively, the improvement comprising: a blending tube connected with said discharge line and bearing a single, perforated, sheet metal spiral member substantially throughout its length, the perforated surface of said spiral member extending from wall to wall of said blending tube.

RICHARD El. HEYL. ETHBERT R. NE'I'I.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,012,915 Rauber et al. Dec. 26, 1911 1,626,487 Warren Apr. 26, 1927 1,969,533 Pipes et al Aug. 7, 1934 2,354,634 Griswold July 25, 1944 2,478,998 Boyd Aug. 16, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 529,512 Germany July 1'7, 1931 735,033 France Nov. 2, 1932 

